Priscilla Cummings: Hello, my name is Priscilla Cummings. Often, when I visit a school to talk about writing, I am greeted by a sign that says, "Priscilla Cummings is Coming!"

Priscilla is an old-fashioned sort of name. I had an aunt named Priscilla, and both of us had an ancestor named Priscilla Mullins, who, many, many years ago, came to America on the Mayflower. She married a man, who also came over on the Mayflower, named John Alden. They had a big family, I think about thirteen children. One of their sons was named Joseph, and it is through Joseph that my mother's family is descended.

I like the name Priscilla now, but I didn't like it when I was young. I wanted a snappy, simpler name like Susan or Jean. And I didn't have a middle name, which really bothered me.

So in second grade, when the teacher was calling out each of our names to be sure it was correct on the report card, she came to me and asked, "Priscilla, do you have a middle name?"

I did not hesitate. I said, "Yes, it's Jean."

So she wrote "Priscilla J. Cummings" on my report card. It stayed there until I was in fifth grade, when it finally caught the attention of my mother, who promptly had it taken off.

Since then, it's been just Priscilla Cummings. Even after I was married and took on a new legal last name, I kept my maiden name, Priscilla Cummings, as my writing name.